A read-only archive of discourse.darkjedibrotherhood.com as of Sunday May 01, 2022.

[Hoth] The Arrival

Elequin

Quasar Fire-Class Cruiser Rohlan’s Vision
High orbit over third planet
Kiast System

Three hundred-fifty meters from the large carrier, a shuttle approached and transmitted authorization codes. Permission to land was returned in silence, allowing the shuttle to drift further and eventually pass through the field protecting the inner ship from the vacuum of space. The entire process took only a mere few minutes and the shuttle touched down towards the rear of hangar four. The pilot powered the engines down, signalled his passengers and dropped the ramp to give his cargo a safe path to the deck of the ship. Various crewman spilled out of the passenger bay, apparently already knowing their intended duties, but one woman stood apart from the rest.

She was the last to exit the ship, but the first to survey the entirety of the hangar before moving further into the cruiser: as if she was evaluating the procedures of shuttle docking. With her solemn scowl never leaving her face, the woman brushed a blonde bang from her face and located the hangar control room, immediately making her way towards it. The occasional pilot and basic crewman brushed passed her, not giving a second glance as she reached and entered the control room wordlessly.

“Oh, can I help you, Miss…?” one of the more senior looking crewman stated after noticing her.

Taking slight breath, she cleared her throat. “Could you please direct me to the commanding officer of the ship?”

“I…well…Can I ask what your intentions are, miss?”

“All you need to know, is that I need to speak with your commanding officer and the senior Hoth representative on board. Anything else is need to know, which you do not,” she stated cooly.

This brought a frown to the man’s face and he waved to a few passing security crewmen. “I’m sorry, miss, but unless you state your intentions and give me some identification, I’m going to have to restrain you.”

With narrowed eyes and a slight twitch of her mouth that could almost be considered a form of smirk, she rose a hand with her finger extended. “Excellent response. I am Arcia Cortel, sent by Councillor Sorenn to act as military advisor to the Hoth Joint Task Force. If you would like to verify these statements, I have proof. Now then, please direct me to the ship’s commanding officer and the senior ranking member of Hoth.”

Cortel finished her statement by brandishing a datapad, which the man quickly snatched from her hand and studied. After a moment, he waved the security personnel away and looked back up to the woman. Studying her, he shook his head slightly and handed the datapad back.

“The CO is off ship currently and the senior ranking Hoth representative would be the Aedile, Edgar Drachen. He can likely be found on the bridge, that way,” the man pointed towards a lift towards the rear center of the hangar bays.

“That’s better,” Cortel stated plainly snatching the datapad, about facing and exiting the control room.

Ship’s Bridge
Rohlan’s Vision

Edgar Drachen, Aedile of House Hoth, stood looking over the planetary scans, trying to think of which location the Clan’s Summit would allow him to establish the House’s new base of operations. Two locations peaked his interest. One was on the northern continent of Iyen, which had a temperate climate and plenty of room to expand. Then there was the Pokora island chain that had a more tropical climate and large lava field that could land the entire fleet if need be. His thoughts were fixated on the datapad when the sound of someone entering populated the bridge.

The Aedile slowly looked up from his datapad to gaze out towards the planet. He assumed the newcomer was here to deliver bad news for him to deal with, as had been the standard lately, and he took a deep breath.

“And what is it now? Did Darro start another fight in the mess all? Has Suur pissed off Lambow yet again? Speak up,” he spoke without turning.

After a few short moments of silence, Edgar groaned and turned to face the reason of the intrusion. Before him was a woman shorter than he, standing with a datapad clasped in both hands before her. She had shoulder length, brown hair with blonde colored bangs and piercing green eyes that were obviously cybernetic, giving that they rotated as they bore into the Aedile. She remained silent, a steady gaze remaining locked upon the man, causing him to speak first.

Edgar sighed. “And who are you and what do you want? Make it quick so I can get back to work!” he growled, annoyed at the interruption.

“That’s not a very good first impression. Not a way to speak to your new military advisor, either,” the woman stated plainly.

“Excuse me?”

She held out the datapad, allowing Edgar to snatch it up and review its contents before slowly raising his gaze back to the woman. According to Councillor Sorenn, this woman, Arcia Cortel, was to be assigned to House Hoth, primarily the JTF, to act as their advisor. Her expertise came in the form of leadership philosophy, strategic tactics and naval warfare. What stood out the most, however, was her name.

“You are Arconan,” Edgar spoke quietly.

“Not quite, but that’s a story for another day,” Cortel spoke as she moved past the man to look out the viewport herself. “I noticed your planetary scans contain some fruitful locations to construct a command base. Very good choices, I would have chosen those myself. However…we aren’t going to be staging at any of those locations.”

Gritting his teeth, the Aedile turned to glare into the back of Cortel’s head. “And just where do you think we’re going to set up?”

“Trepus. Northern continent. There’s an abandoned mining facility that will be perfect for our use. I’ve already made preparations and spoken with the required individuals to secure the location. I expect you will make yourself available to assist with the mobilization of the House?”

“Why in the world would we go there?”

Arcia turned to face Edgar once again. “Why wouldn’t we? It’s isolated, fortified, the building is already there. Less work for us to establish ourselves. Plus there’s a transfer station not far from the facility and caves. Perfect for landing our ships.”

“Granted, I have seen the reports on this location, but the time it will take to rehab all the buildings and make the mine even remotely useable, we could have landed and built a new base on Iyen or Pokora! Also, who knows what even works there. It sounds like more trouble than it’s worth to me.”

Cortel actually chuckled and shook her head in defiance. “What makes you think the locals would like us, guests, coming in and setting up shop on their home planet? We’ve hardly been given refuge here and you wish to begin constructing military outposts on their planet? We must befriend them first, before we ask for more than what has already been given to us. Think ahead, Drachen. Think tactically…”

“Look, you’re new and I don’t know if you’ve ever seen your world burn in front of your very eyes, but let me tell you this I am thinking clearly. I’m not going to sit in a hole in the ground hoping no one finds me. I’m here to make sure this House is ready and prepped to take the fight to the Inquisitorius and the Empire has been nice enough to let us in their system. I fought to have this world for us to set up our military to appease these people, and I will play nice with them. At the end of the day, Hoth will be the sword the Clan will use to slaughter every Dark Sider we find!”

The moment the words of a burning world left Edgar’s mouth, Arcia’s face fell into a darkness of which Edgar had only seen a handful of times, most of which in situations that he would never wish to relive. After what seemed to be a lifetime with the two simply glaring into each other’s eyes, Cortel stormed forward and forcibly pushed the datapad to the Aedile’s chest.

“First off, we have the same mission, Drachen. Secondly, these orders come from the top. We have limited resources and do not have the means to accomplish these grand plans of yours. Not yet,” Cortel pushed past the man and stopped at the doorway. “I will see you groundside, Drachen.”

With the finality of her words, Cortel exited the bridge to make her way back to the hangar. Edgar was left staring at the door just thinking to himself ‘What a Bitch!, I should have known Turel would find a way to usurp any authority I have. The councillors have so little faith in me that they have to send an Arconan to “overseer” my house.

Edgar placed the datapad down and took a long sip from his drink vowing to himself, ‘They don’t see the potential in this house. They don’t see the loyalty and the drive the members have. They don’t believe in this unit and for them I WILL NOT fail! I will make Hoth a force to reckoned with! I swear it!